Family- Domestic Violence - 2.3 Flashcards
Misconceptions of domestic violence
> That it is only committed by a few disturbed people & causes are psychological not social .
> British Crime Survey rejects this - there are 6.6.Mil assault per year & follows social patterns with social causes e.g. mostly men on women - it is widespread
Domestic Violence Key Sociologists
> Yearnshire (Unrecorded Domestic Violence)
> Cheal (Unrecorded Domestic Violece)
> Dar (Unrecorded Domestic Violence/Unreported DV)
> Crime Survey for England and Wales ( Statistics)
> Firestone (Radical Feminism)
> Dobash & Dobash (Radical Feminism)
> Wilkinson & Pickett Materialist Explanation (Marxist Feminist)
> Ansley (Marxist Feminist)
Two reasons official statistics on domestic violence aren’t valid
> Underreported
> Underecorded (Cheal)
Yearnshire (Underreporting of DV)
> Less likely that violent crime will be reported to police under ⅓ of assaults reported.
> On average a women will suffer 35 assaults before reporting abuse.
Dar (Unrecorded DV/Unreported DV)
> Victims don’t report as of fear of reprisal, won’t be believed or their own fault.
> Continuous abuse, can’t separated, so victims can’t accurately recall & the emotional abuse difficult to prove
Cheal (Unrecorded DV)
> Police reluctant to get involved with private sphere feel people free to leave, but wife & children financially dependent
Crime Survey for England and Wales (2013) - DV findings
1.2mil women are victims compared to 800 000 men
Criticisms of Crime Survey for England and Wales
> Significant gender gap in severity/frequency of abuse
> Women suffer greater major physiological effects & are more fearful of partners
3 Explanations for Domestic Violence
> Radical Feminist
Materialist Explanation (Marxist)
Marxist Feminist
General Radical Feminist view on Domestic Violence
> Due to patriarchy, men exploits women through triple shift & sex, due to threat of domestic violence, thus inevitable
> Men dominate the state, so take domestic violence less seriously
Dobash & Dobash (Radical Feminist)
> Due to challenges to male authority, e.g. women asking why he’s late home
> Due to crisis of masculinity men are insecure so strike out.
Wilkinson & Pickett Materialist Explanation (Marxist Feminst)
> Due to stress from social inequality e.g low income, poor housing there is an increased risk of DV.
> Less time & money reduces their social circle & so there are less people around for support.
> Children, the working class, and people who are dependent on alcohol or drugs are more at risk
Criticism of Materialist Explanation
> Not all working class men are violent towards women.
Ansley (Marxist Feminist)
> Women are ‘takers of shit’’, men are exploited at work and take their anger out on women, when it should be directed at their employers.
